Joys

It's been a while, so I guess I'll start with some bad news: boils, everywhere. Ok, slight exagerration, but a have 2 boils plus a carbunkle (that's the technical term for having more than one boil in one spot). Also an annoying infection on the finger which makes it hard (annoying) to type at length. I thought I had known discomfort before, now I laugh. No, this isn't complaining, just letting you know why I may come back with a bunch of random scars on my body :)

Fun news!
I went to Tol again two weekends ago to get some info for a Christian Service Project the juniors were supposed to go on. It was pretty awesome and provided a lot of great things to reflect and pray on. I learned some Chuukese (very very little amount...ekis Chuuk). Unfortunately, we had to cancel the CSP due to the boat captain not wanting to go out when the weather was bad (it got better when we got back up to XHS, after all the girls had gone back to their sponsors). Don't worry, one WILL happen, and we will still get to go!

I'm currently talking like a Russian (with a very bad accent) in Literature. You may be asking yourself "Why?" Here's the answer: We're reading Animal Farm! By far one of my favorite books ever. I really should get to reading 1984 sometime...
The seniors have been given a case study project, I gave for case studies, they pick one and apply methods they've learned about so far in class. Hopefully it will turn out well. In English Skills, we're writing an Essay and prepping for the PSAT. They are really worried for some reason, so we're working on vocabulary skills (plenty vocabs, as we would say here) as well for the moment, I spent a good part of today writing prefixes and their meaning, I think I'm going to have them write songs in order to memorize them.

We have some Australian high school students visiting this week, should be interesting. They are staying at one of the nicest hotels here to sleep at, but spending most of their time with us and at Sapuk Elementary. 5 of the boys will be staying overnight tomorrow in the dorm. Hopefully this brief immersion experience will be helpful for them in some way.

Question: What is your image of God? What do you think it means about you and your relationship with God? Your vocation? (No, you don't have to share)

Heads Up

In case you were worried, no, none of the natural disasters taking place are anywhere near me. Thankfully, the Pacific Ocean is very large and, if a tsunami or something were to come in our direction, the water gets really shallow in random places within the lagoon, plus I'm on one of the highest points of this island. So please, if you were worrying, don't. :)

A better blog post to come. The power is probably going to turn off in a few minutes (it has been turning off at this time for the past couple of days).

It's been (over) one week!

...since our first day of school. Wow. So much to say, but so much beyond words! In just this one week I've experienced many ups and downs, joys, frustrations, sorrows, etc. that come with teaching. It's quite the roller coaster. One thing I realized this morning is that I need to be more firm and sure of myself in my morality class. Not that I am not right now, but I have been unsure how to handle the "touchy" topics we will be discussing in the class -- i.e. drinking and sex. I think being up front may be the best way to go The other day we did an activity and the class seemed a bit divided on those and more than a few issues. Hopefully it will make for good discussion and good reflection (my hope is that the class not only teaches them about moral theology but also how to think critically and prepare them for college, they are seniors in high school afterall!).
In other news, in case I haven't shared this already on here, I' ve been named "one" of the moderators for Campus Ministry. Currently, we are still awaiting the other Jesuit scholastic to arrive to teach and also help with CM, but his work papers haven't been pushed through yet. Right now, Steph is helping me out with it for the time being (helping meaning meaning completely guiding me). So far we're just trying to figure out who the student leaders are! Most of my job as CM moderator will be planning the service projects for the Fresh, Sophs, and Juniors, as well as planning out the Junior retreat and the Fresh and Soph days of prayer. It should be great and keep me busy enough, although I'm also thinking and praying about whether or not to suggest to our future "team" the idea of adding Bible study to the mix (currently one of the Austrailian volunteers, Robin, is doing this on his own. So making it part of CM would help to "institutionalize" it in the XHS community).

With sad news, I regret to say that I will bot be able to Skype as often due to a broken head set. I'll try to borrow others' when I can. Sorry for the bit of sad news.

Thank you to those who have sent actual letters. It's always wonderful to receive something in the mail! A lot of people have been getting packages, but I feel like letters are just as awesome because then I get to write back, sweet! If you would ever like to send a letter, but don't have my address, feel free to e-mail me.

As promised, some pictures

The ladies after Feast of the Assumption Mass on Tol (l-r, Jessica, Caroline, Megan, Stephanie). Note the beautiful marmars (flowers around neck and head)

The guys minus Matt, who was working on a speech (l-r, me, Tyler, Sammy)

A picture of the hill road we take down from Xavier to Saramen. Forgot to take some of the actual road at sea level.

The field via roof view, with the water in front. The island in the very back ground is a marker for the lagoon. Past the lagoon the water is a bit choppier.

There, some pictures.

DON'T PANIC!

(shout out to whoever can name the piece of literature I just quoted for the title of this post)

But really, don't panic. I'm ok. In fact, you probably don't even need to panic right now. Until you hear this (sorry mom):
Apparently I have developed an allergy to something. Not sure what yet. But yesterday morning I woke up with some hives, which got worse last night (even though I was taking some benedryl). Went to the clinic today downtown and they told me to take loratadine (ie claritin). Believe it or not, it is working, I just have to take multiple doses in the day. We'll try to figure out what the allergen is once the hives go away (I may post a picture or two once they're loaded)...can we say "community builder?" We'll have an epi-pen and a benedryl injection ready "just in case" the reaction is bigger than the one I had. Hopefully they won't be necessary.
The ride to the clinic was pretty fun, I always enjoy riding in the back of a truck or flatbed and just letting the wind hit me and feel like an adventurer (Indiana Jones, perhaps). Even when broken out in hives, it's awesome feeling.

School is officially starting in less than a week, more of the students are on campus and I'm starting to learn some of their names and just chatting wtih them. Hopefully they don't think I'm a total nut case from this allergy stuff (and hopefully they don't use it against me if they find out what it is!).

Yesterday I watched A Clockwork Orange, crazy movie to get you thinking about morality/free will. We're in the process of transferring all our VHS movies on campus onto DVDs so that they're easier to skip through and watch with students (well, when they can be watched with students, Clockwork would definitely not be one of them!).

Again, don't panic. It's rarely necessary. Just keep remembering to breathe.

Editors note morning after this post: Even though I was taking loratadine even over the night (when I woke up and checked my watch it was time for another!), I still broke out again -- the hives were almost completely gone by the time I went to bed. So, Joan (the infirmarian) and I believe it to be the laundry detergent. We'll be trying out a new one once someone can go downtown to buy some and then we'll try it out. If it's not that, it might be the bed.

Shingles!

No, not the disease, a cat! He roams around campus a bit, no he is not anyone's pet (actually, there is no concept of pet on the islands...people may keep dogs, pigs, cats, etc around for whatever they may be needed for but "most" -- meaning not all islanders -- have no issue with killing it if necessary). For the second time in as many weeks, Shingles has used my bed as a bathroom. I would classify this as infinitely more annoying than the spiders I've been finding (and killing if they're not in a web) in my room. The other day he also had a rat that he had killed and was sitting on some clothing with it.
So now I need to be more careful about closing doors and making sure I'm not followed in by Shingles.

In other news, school starts in 8 days or so (Sept 1)! Our class schedules are being smoothed out, but right now it's looking solid. Once the students are all here (they're already beginning to trickle in), I'll most likely not be posting as much due to slower internet (or my posts will be shorter, who knows). Just a heads up so that I don't upset anyone by unresponsiveness. Also, well aware that I haven't posted pictures, I keep forgetting to bring my camera into the computer room with me. Sorry.
Song of the Moment (courtesy of Robin, an Australian Volunteer, and Sam, an Independent): Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Tol

Greetings back at Xavier.
This post is dedicated to the past 72 hours...
We left Saramen around 2:30 with Fr. Fernando on Friday towards Tol, an island a few miles away from Weno, to stay at Assumption Parish. Saturday was the Feast of the Assumption, which meant a big shin-dig was in store, and was the reason we (JVs) were invited.

The boat ride was fun, to say the least. It started raining as we were walking to the dock, and the waves were fantastic. Needless to say, we were all soaked when we got off the boat. Once we arrived to the island area, we were surrounded by beautiful mangrove trees, which Tol apparently has a LOT of (thanks Matt). When we docked, we were greeted by singing children and given mar mars (I'll post pictures soon!), I was lucky enough to get decked out in the most extravagent, which also, unfortunately, fell apart the easiest. We were shown to our rooms, and given showers. This was the first time I ever bucket showered, and, to be honest, it was amazing. Anywho, after we all finished showering, we got fed, which was a feast in itself (again, picture to come). Apparently, it is tradition on the islands that visitors always eat first. This may sound like the normal "serve guests first," except it is to the extreme. Our hosts wouldn't eat anything until we were finished. It was a bit awkward, to say the least. After dinner, we began "taking part" (ie, watching) the ceremonies which had begun. We were warned that the singing and speeches may go on till 1 or 2 AM. We showed up to the church late (we lost track of time), and were sitting outside. As people were exiting, thanks to Tyler, we realized we were all in the way and wanted to go to the other side of the river. We moved and followed. When we arrived to the classroom we would be in (fitting about 100, I think), we were offered chairs and got to witness some talks, as well as a lot of singing. It was fun. It ended at about 9. We went back to our rooms, talked, and played a game of Mafia and eventually hit the sack.

Saturday
We woke up and after showering were treated to a huge breakfast consisting of what we would probably consider lunch or dinner foods, as well as some "normal" breakfast foods (cereal). Then we headed to Mass, which was, again, beautiful, although I have found it hard to pay attention when everything is in Chuukese. We sat in the back and as the Liturgy began we were offered chairs to sit in (there are no pews in the church, everyone was sitting on the ground, like in the classroom). Afterwards we sat and talked with ourselves and some of the kids. Lots of laughing, lots of fun. More food at luch, with singing, followed by listening to people speak and hearing songs. Matt got to speak on behalf of us, thankfully we didn't have to sing! After the fun, we headed back to Weno. Our boat ride back to Weno was smoother and quicker this time around. However, our fun had not ended.
We unfortunately missed the bus that had picked up Lydia (US independent volunteer) and the three returning Austrailian volunteers from the air port, so we waited at Saramen for the truck. I had forgotten to mention that we returned with a LOT of food from Tol. The truck eventually arrived as the sun was setting (circa 6 pm) and we began our journey, with about 9 people in the back of the truck plus our bags and the food. One minute in we get a flat tire, which was changed in less than 8 minutes. Half way to Xavier, the engine overheated, which was easily fixed. To our "delight," once we jumped back in it was discovered that the battery/engine wasn't "connecting", so, with a few locals from the houses around us, we pushed the truck up and down the road until it started. I have to admit, it was actually really fun. As we continued our trip, we found out that our driver was having difficulty seeing in the dark without any headlights, so we fished for a few headamps in our backpacks and eventually got light. It was quite the sight! To top it off, due to the flat, we all moved to one side, thankfully, as on one sharp turn on the hill to Xavier there was definitely some tipping action! We got to Xavier though, safe and sound, and were able to successfully which Tomi a happy birthday (there was a cake being held in the truck), and we also got to meet our two new American independent volunteers as well as the Austrailians (who have already been here a while, they leave in Nov/Dec and will be replaced by some more via some post high school volunteer program).

Today has been much more relaxing, and the day is actually almost over (ok, not really, but the power has been working since last night, and I'm worried it'll go out soon as I post this). Kiniso chapur! Thanks for reading :)